Chapter 159

At the subway entrance, they squeezed through the crowd onto the train. "Luckily, there are still two seats here..." "Yeah, at least we don't have to stand for over an hour." The girl breathed a sigh of relief and sat down with Xia Yan. It was quite crowded, but thankfully they had arrived early. It was already past seven, the morning rush hour. Hua Xin didn't take out her phone; instead, she closed her eyes and turned her head, pretending to want to take a nap. But her heart was far from calm. The atmosphere remained quiet for a while, the earlier banter turning into indifference. "Here." The man's voice beside her rang out, making the girl immediately open her eyes. Xia Yan was handing Hua Xin an earphone—not the noise-canceling Bluetooth headset everyone else used to isolate themselves from the outside world. It was just a very ordinary wired earphone. "Hmph." Hua Xin snorted softly, her eyes wide with no sign of sleepiness, and took the earphone, gently putting it in her left ear. The gentle voice inside didn't travel through the phone's Type-C cable to the earphone; instead, it seemed to transmit someone's heartfelt words through this simple line connecting the two of them to the other's heart. "I'm too old to go far." "At least I'll be there for your walk downstairs." "You said you feel insecure and are used to being alone." "I'll make you get used to having someone with you." "We're all afraid that loneliness will be slowly swallowed up by time." "Don't be afraid, darling, I'm here." Neither of them spoke, only the gentle voice playing softly in their earphones. Xia Yan stared at his raised phone, his lowered eyelids obscuring his thoughts. His reflection was visible on the black screen. Hua Xin's head rested gently against the wall of the carriage behind her, clutching the old handbag her parents had left behind because it was deemed too worthless. Her eyes remained closed, but her slender hands unconsciously tightened their grip on the bag. The subway continued its journey, accompanied by the occasional murmurs of conversation, laughter, and sighs. Announcements sometimes rang out, sometimes fell silent. But all of this seemed to have nothing to do with the two of them. Only the lyrics of a song echoed in their ears. The whole world is rushing around, but you sit beside me, listening to a song with me. Perhaps in this moment, without words or eye contact, only the cheap wired headphones connecting us, Hua Xin and Xia Yan both understand what the atmosphere and seemingly dreamlike scene that has persisted until now truly means. It's probably... their world. Only the other exists. 125. Let's play a game? Let's play! "Aren't you really hungry?" Hua Xin glanced at the takoyaki and other various snacks emitting a fragrant aroma not far away, and said to Xia Yan beside her, feigning indifference. "I'm really not hungry..." "I used to eat only one meal a day." Xia Yan helplessly rubbed his nose. It's a bit cold, and he was in a hurry to go out today, so he wasn't dressed warmly enough. Thinking about how he sneaked out early in the morning, hiding from Xia Fen, looking like a thief, a hint of approval flashed in his eyes. Although he was cold, at least he had evaded Xia Fen's clever detection. If this scenario of her following him on a date happened again, Xia Yan would really have to teach her a lesson. At the very least, he'd have to tell his aunt to lock her up for a few days. But little did Xia Yan know... Xia Fen was already sitting happily with Li Xue, cracking sunflower seeds and discussing what might happen between him and Hua Xin that day, or what romantic scenes might occur. "Aren't you hungry?" "Oh, then I'm hungry." Hua Xin snorted lightly, then crossed her arms and walked towards the food stall not far away. Concerned about Xia Yan? Absolutely not! She was only buying things because she was hungry. (She might reward Xia Yan with two.) "Boss, one order of takoyaki!" "Okay, twenty-four yuan a serving." "We have medium, large, and extra-large sizes, beautiful lady, look at you..." "Uh..." The girl's expectant gaze at the round, hot takoyaki suddenly froze. Why was this damn large and extra-large size still chasing after her?! Has this world completely deleted small portions?! And... all she can say is, it's truly worthy of Shanghai currency... why is it so expensive... twenty-four can buy a pound of meat?! "Small portion," Hua Xin said calmly, suppressing the pain in her heart. She had already said she'd buy it; if she went back on her word, people would probably look down on her. The girl carefully pulled out a bright red hundred-yuan bill from her bag and handed it to the shopkeeper. As the hundred-yuan bill left her hand, she turned her head away, forcing herself not to look at the scene of parting. This was her life savings, a fifth of it. Giving it all away like that?... "Here's your change: seventy-six yuan." Hua Xin then solemnly put the change back into her bag. Although she didn't count the money directly, she instantly calculated whether the change matched. Indeed... money only feels worthwhile when spent in paper form; online, it's just a string of cold numbers, greatly diminishing one's appreciation for money. Wait until payday. The girl thought wistfully. Perhaps she could ask Li Xue and Shan Qing if they needed anyone for the weekend? She only needed to go to school two days a week; maybe that way she could save some money before graduation? Money... Hua Xin sighed softly. —————————— "Hoo hoo... ooh..." Just a few minutes later, the girl held a box of takoyaki sprinkled with bonito flakes and sauce, picked one up with a toothpick, blew on it, and then took a bite. The crisp, tender, and delicious flavor filled her mouth, though it was a little hot, causing her to close one eye and stick out her tongue. "Eat slowly." "It's very hot inside." Xia Yan said gently, looking at the girl. She was still as adorable as ever. "Delicious?" Hua Xin happily pointed to the takoyaki in her hand, her eyes sparkling. She had only ever seen bloggers tasting these kinds of snacks in videos, but she had never eaten them herself. Come to think of it... even "octopus" was something she had never eaten before. Perhaps the octopus inside was replaced with squid. But she'd never eaten either of those before. Hua Xin tied up another small dumpling, blew on it gently, and held it to Xia Yan's lips. "Eat." The girl's eyes flickered slightly, but her words were concise and to the point, without any unnecessary words. However... her tone sounded a little arrogant. The food was delicious. Ah, perhaps because she'd never eaten it before, she probably couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. But even so, Hua Xin was willing to use her own money to buy it. Perhaps this would be an ordinary thing for others, because it represented a lot of money for them. But Hua Xin only had five hundred yuan on her, and once it was gone, she had none left. The girl felt a pang of heartache. But it was just...